Orange and White
by Candy1004104
Summary: An engagement to Gaara, a second personality, and a few secret admirers. How will Hinata react? NaruHina. Not very interesting, but it's my first story. Review so I can make my future stories better!
1. Chapter 1: Intro

**_Orange and White_**

**_Chapter 1_**

Hinata was going for her daily walk through the village, not really minding where she went, not really minding who she met along the way...Except for three certain people:

1) Her father, Hiashi Hyuuga

2) Her cousin, Neji Hyuuga

And...  
"Hey Hinata!" Some one shouted from behind her. Oh no! T-that v-v-voice....

"H-hi Naruto" Hinata said shyly.

"Hinata, what'cha doing alone?" Hinata started to blush. "Don't you usually walk with Kiba, or Shino? You know there's a rumor going around that you like one of them." Naruto was elbowing her left side, eager to know the answer, while Hinata's face was rapidly turning a rosy red.

"No... I don't like them!" Hinata exclaimed, for once not stuttering. Naruto gave her a surprised look, and Hinata immediately became quiet again. "I.... I usually walk alone..."

"Oh! That must be really lonely, Hinata! Do you want me to come with you?" Naruto was smiling his famous Naruto smile.

"Ummm...S-sure Naru-" Hinata froze, suddenly noticing that Sakura and Ino were spying on them, hiding near Ichiraku's Ramen.

"Hey Hinata. Are you ok?" Naruto leaned in, examining her to make sure she was fine.

Just as Sakura and Ino thought that Hinata was going to faint, she quickly shouted "Bye!" and ran away.

Sakura and Ino grinned mischievously at each other.

* * *

Ino and Sakura were talking to each other in Ino's flower shop, when the bells rung, signaling that some one was entering the store.

"Hey Hinata!" They said at the same time.

"Hi Ino… Hi S-sakura." Hinata said nervously. She wasn't expecting to see Sakura here. It lowered her self esteem.

Ino smiled knowingly. "You're buying some roses right? Maybe nice, red, romantic, roses."

Hinata froze for the second time that day. "N-no! ...I'm buying....Tulips! For m-my room!"

"Oh. Ok...anything else?" Sakura laughed internally.

"........" Hinata pretended to browse through the other flowers. "Ok, maybe a few roses."

Sakura feigned surprise. "Really! For who?!"

"N-n-no one....j-just that t-they look s-special surrounded by the t-tulips..." Hinata held her breath, anticipating their response.

Ino acted as if she didn't suspect anything. "Ok, what colour?"

"One white rose...One y-yellow rose... and....t-three r-red r-r-roses...."

"And the tulips?"

"T-tulips...? Oh! Umm....c-could you make it so that I have one of each colour?"

"Ok..." She quickly gathered up the flowers and put them in a bouquet. Suddenly Ino looked up, puzzled. "Umm…would you rather have seeds?"

"S-seeds please…How long does it t-take the s-s-seeds to g-grow?"

"It takes a month and a half for all the seeds to grow into full grown flowers!" Sakura blurted. Then she looked outside, avoiding their gaze. "You might want to go soon Hinata." She nodded toward the setting sun.

Ino put the flower seed packets in a plastic bag. She discreetly slipped in an extra seed packet that contained red carnation seeds; some flowers would be light red, symbolizing admiration, while some flowers would be dark red, symbolizing a deep love for someone. Ino was an expert at decoding the meaning of flowers.

She was about to hand the bag over to Hinata, but then noticed Sakura, who seemed to be thinking hard about something. Poor Hinata, she obviously likes Naruto so much, when Naruto likes Sakura. She put the bag back on the counter and put another seed pack in it. This pack had striped carnations, meaning regret for a love that can't be shared.

"Sorry, I know you have to hurry back home, but I accidentally left out a pack." She smiled apologetically, and gave the bag to Hinata.

Hinata ran back to her home, hoping she wouldn't bump into those three certain people.

"Ok, how did you know that?" Ino looked questioningly at Sakura.

"Know what?"

"You know! How the seeds take to grow!"

"Ummm..." Sakura looked back at Ino with a confused look on her face. "I don't know."

"Well, it's kinda weird."

A long silence passed between them. Suddenly, Hinata ran to the front of the store, realizing that in her embarrassment, she had walked the wrong way. If Father finds out I'm out this late he's going to kill me! She thought. She looked around anxiously, forgetting about her Byakugan for the moment, then ran off hastily in the direction of her home.

The two girls inside the store watched Hinata, their moods lightening.

"Maybe we shouldn't bug her so much, Sakura." Ino smiled. "I know I would die if I was the one being teased all the time."

"Oh, come on! It's fun!" Sakura laughed.

"Yeah...whatever you say...." Ino smirked. "…Billboard-brow."

"Ino-pig!"

"BILLBOARD-BROW!"

"INO-PIG!"

After exchanging the "nicknames" 4 more times, Sakura stormed out of the flower shop.

Shouting at each other and arguing is pretty fun, She mused, Now that we're friends and it's just a joke.

Inside, Ino sighed and sat back down behind the counter. "I wonder why she bought three red roses…" Then she laughed. "Maybe she does like Kiba and Shino after all!"

**A/N:This was my first fanfic, so please review (I need the advice).  
I know this was kind of short, but I'm used to putting stories in little bits and pieces.  
BTW I'll explain the story title at the end of the last chapter  
Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: Another Intro?

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Happy (Belated) New Year, and Happy (Belated) Holidays! ****Sorry for leaving this for so long!**

**This chapter is pretty short...**

**I'm going to write the story from Hinata's POV, because it's so much easier if I say it from her POV, instead of narrating everything like I'm stalking her (that's what it feels like). **

**Spoiler: if you haven't read/watched/heard about Asuma.**

**Disclaimer: I forgot to do this on the first chapter, so NO, I do NOT own Naruto, and NO, I do NOT own any of the Naruto Characters and/or their themes.**

_**Chapter 2**_

I went upstairs to my room and rushed over to my window. Only a few days ago, my dad and Neji got me a flower box for the little ledge infront of my window. I filled it with soil from the garden yesterday, and now I finally have the actual flowers!

I shook my bag upside-down and the contents spilled out. I looked for the roses and picked them up when I noticed some carnations among the tulips. Wait a minute...I didn't buy any carnations. I shrugged (which was pointless... nobody was watching me) and put them back in the bag.

I took the roses and planted the yellow rose beside one of the red roses. I dug and I planted for an hour, putting the white rose in one corner and the other red roses around the yellow. If this worked, then I would get an orange rose in the end, along with two red roses, and a white rose. I wasn't an expert at breeding flowers, and I hoped that roses could actually be orange. Why not? If there were such things as blue roses (wait...there ARE such things as blue roses, right?), why not orange?

When I was done, I stared at the dirty mess I made, dirt all over the floor and on my clothes. I almost felt like just leaving it, but I knew my father would highly disapprove. Thinking of how much trouble I would be in if _father_, or even _Neji_ for that matter, saw _me_, the Hyuuga Heiress, all covered in dirt and soil, I just _had _to clean it all up. I brushed the dirt from my pants, and changed into a white T shirt with a single lavender flower in the corner. It was my favourite shirt, because it was the only shirt I had that had my two favourite colours on it and didn't look like it was plain. I had other shirts like this one, but they didn't seem nearly as nice.

Feeling proud of my hard work, I came down the stairs and got ready to go out into Konoha. I put on my pale blue sweater, slipped on my shoes and opened the door. I was just about to step out when Neji tapped my shoulder.

"Sorry to bother you, Hinata, but can I come with you?"

"_You?_ Accompany _me_ on a _walk_?" I said, too shocked to actually stutter - and coming from me, that's something.

"Hey, you managed not to stumble on a word for once!" Neji grinned. It was weird, this seemed like something coming from Kiba, not my cousin. "But yeah, I wanted to do something out in town, and I thought it might be convenient if I came along with you instead of going alone."

**...**

"_W-who are you and w-what have you done with m-my c-c-cousin?!?!"_ The stammering returns.

Neji looks extremely surprised at my outburst, though I can't understand why. He should be able to understand. Neji is a loner - I mean, independant. He goes alone, and I think he likes being alone sometimes. I can't blame him; Gai-sensei and Lee are pratically insane, and Tenten likes Neji, so I figure it might be awkward talking to her a lot.

Anyways, why would _independant_ Neji want to walk with me? Even if he is my cousin and might be a bit protective of me, especially after the chunin exams, I can't seem to figure out why he would want to tag along.

Then, it hit me. He heard the rumors. He was being protective, like he was my second dad.

I almost hated my fans, pairing me up with all these people. I can get Kiba, Shino and Naruto (obviously), but Shikamaru, Sasuke, Gaara, Itachi, Kakashi-sensei...I never even talk to those people! And Neji? My own cousin? Eww!

I made me so angry, I just kicked my shoes off and went back upstairs. I could hear Neji saying "Sorry." softly, and I knew he wouldn't tell father.

Once I was in my room, I got my MP3 player and plugged it into my speakers. I shuffled through the songs and tried to decide what to pick.

A word before I tell you which song I landed on:

The TV show is not acted out. It's actually just a film crew following us the entire time...which is awkward, especially when some one dies. After Asuma died and the group returned to Konoha, Shikamaru used the shadow possession jutsu on the crew and and made them stay underwater for a minute. There were also a lot of other times when we tried to kill them, but I won't get into that now...

Anyways, because of the TV show, we all have our own themes, and Gaara has two: one for his childhood and one for himself. I love the childhood theme; it makes you _want_ to cry. Or actually make you cry, it depends on the person.

So there I am, lying on my bed, listening to Gaara's Childhood Theme. I think there is something seriously messed up with these themes, because after five minutes, Hanabi is at my door, telling me _Gaara_ _and Naruto_ _are downstairs._

**A/N: Please don't get offended by the part where Hinata is complaining about the pairings. I'm just writing what I think Hinata would think. ****Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3: I change completely

**A/N: Thank you to ****Gravity The Wizard****, ****notgonnasay09****, and ****vash3055**** for reviewing!**

**I hope I didn't mess up Hinata's personality too much in the last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Of course not! If I did, I wouldn't have killed Jiraiya, or Asuma.**

_**Chapter 3**_

I pratically jump up off my bed. Gaara and Naruto? Why would they come here?

Abruptly, it hits me. _Naruto_ is here. In _my_ home. Waiting for _me_.

What do I do, you might ask? I do what I always do.

I fainted.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of people shouting at eachother and at me, as if that would wake me up (or atleast, make me _want_ to wake up). Instead of facing the embarassment I would be facing if I opened my eyes and showed them I was conscious, I pretended to be asleep and tried to distinguish the different voices.

"Relax. She's fine. I can sense her chakra." I could tell by the almost emotionless tone that Shino was talking.

"Yes. She's fine." Again, the stiff, protective tone: it was Neji, obviously.

"I'll wake her up! HINATAAAA!" I could feel myself starting to blush. I could tell that was Naruto. His voice was the best sound in the whole world. Of course I would recognize it immediately.

"Shut up, idiot!" Sakura, no doubt about it, "She'll just faint again if she wakes up to _your_ voice." Someone giggled. Ino?

"Oww!!! Sakura, I was just trying to help..." More people laughed. Seeing Sakura hitting Naruto was funny for most people, but for me, it was painful. I went pale, which was a good thing this time, because if someone noticed me blushing they might realize I was awake.

"Naruto, you retard. You don't think about anything do you?" That was Kiba, taunting Naruto as usual, "_I'll_ bring her around."

"What did you call me?!?!?" Naruto shouted.

Someone shook my shoulders vigorously.

Kiba, ignoring Naruto, yelled at me in turn. "Wake up Hinata! You didn't even see Naruto this time! You fainted in your own room!".

My face turned red, more rapidly than before.

"She's awake!"

I couldn't help it. I wanted to know who said it. My eyes snapped open.

Everyone was looking at me (with different expressions; I noted that Naruto had a look of happiness and relief), but Ino was pointing at me, so I figured that she was the one.

I took the time to glare at Ino, who had slowly put her hand down and joined the others in gazing at me.

Then I gasped.

I _just_ noticed Kiba right infront me, still holding my shoulders, his face actually pretty close to mine. My face turned even more red (if that's possible), but I was determined to show everyone that I didn't have a crush on him. That is, if they even believed it. Anyways, because I was so determined, I just barely managed not to faint again.

"Hinata! You're awake!" He grinned. Then he furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait a minute... How come you don't faint for _me? Your best buddy._ I'm offended!" but then he laughed at my expression (which was probably a shocked one) and I knew we were still friends.

Kiba stood up, walked towards Naruto and started talking with him animately.

It was then that I noticed my surrondings. We were in the living room downstairs in my home.

...And, just because I think you guys would like to know who was there, I'll tell you.

Let's see... there was:

Sakura (who was gossiping with Ino)

Choji (who was _not_ stuffing his face, for once)

Neji (who looked at me anxiously, then looked down at the floor)

Kankuro (who was tinkering with a puppet that had red hair like Gaara's...scary)

Shikamaru (who was arguing with Temari)

Temari (who was arguing with Shikamaru)

Shino, Sasuke and Gaara (all of which were standing silently in the room).

While I was taking this all in, the others started talking as if I'd just woken up, and now they were responding. I figured it was because they were waiting for me to faint again with Kiba's face so close to mine.

"She's ok, thank goodness." Neji muttered.

Shino wasn't saying anything, but I could swear he was smiling. I could just feel it, even if I can barely see his face.

"Hmm." That was Sasuke and Gaara, but I swear I could hear them sighing in relief.

"This is all so troublesome. Hinata just fainted again, what's the big deal?" Shikmaru.

_Smack!_ "Idiot, I told you! We want to be there for the big moment!" Temari.

"W-what big m-moment?" That was me.

Shikamaru smirked triumphantly at Temari.

"You...! Tricked...! Secret...!" Temari looked flustered. "Damn you!" Temari smacked Shikamaru on the head again.

"Oww... I feel like Naruto..." Shikamaru muttered, "This is all so troublesome."

* * *

After a lot of talking and basically just having fun, we were still in the living room, but quieter than before. At first I was worried, because I thought that something was wrong, but then I noticed Gaara standing up.

Ok. That makes sense. Even though everyone knows that Gaara isn't murderous anymore and everything, Gaara is the current Kazekage and he had a very strong aura of authority. So everytime he does something that draws the slightest bit of attention, everyone becomes quiet.

But then he starts walking towards _me_. There's nothing special about that is there? I look behind me to make sure Kankuro or Temari aren't there.

They aren't.

So there I am. I'm starting to panic, because, really... Gaara? What ties do I have with him? Gaara abruptly stops, probably because of my frightened expression.

Suddenly Neji's right beside me, explaining the situation.

"Hinata... I wanted to tell you during your walk, but there was that, ah, _misunderstanding_... Anyways, your father arranged a marraige...you're engaged to _him_." Neji gestured towards Gaara, who politely waited for Neji to finish.

My expression shifts from looking scared, to shocked (who wouldn't be surprised if they were engaged to the Kazekage?), to confused (Who was I to be engaged to some one so important?), to angry (My father probably plans to get rid of me by engaging me to Gaara, and raise our clan's reputation at the same time), and finally, to comprehension (I guess this is the big moment everyone wanted to see).

Then I get this feeling, like _I have to be strong, by myself. I can't trust my family after all_. It was odd, I thought this when my father left me to Kurenai, but I hadn't felt abandoned. The bond between me and Kurenai was strong. But now I was being left in SunaI knew that this would have a really big impact on me. I was more... confident. Way more confident. Almost... proud...?

"Oh. Thanks for telling me then." My voice was cold. Hard. Then I turned my attention to Gaara. "Hello Gaara. How may I help you...?" I looked at him, waiting for him to respond. I had a feeling that my gaze was just as hard as my voice.

Everyone looked really surprised by my transformation-that-took-about-half-of-a-second, like _Is this really Hinata? Did something happen while she was unconscious?_ or _What the heck just happened?!?! Did Hinata just go more than ten words without stuttering?!?!?_. Even Gaara looked surprised. He saw me during the chuunin exams. He saw who I was, what my personality was, everything. I bet at that time, when he had his _I must kill anything that threatens my existence_ thing going on (yes, people actually bother to tell me the details), he passed me off as non-threatening. I figured I was now considered "threatening".

"I assume Neji has told you everything." His voice was so much softer than it was back then. People change so much. "We arranged for you to move to Suna immediatly so that you might become comfortable there sooner."

I stared at him in shock, disbelief, and anger. Move away? From beloved Konoha?

"I didn't plan this... and I'm not evil, you know" He added, "You may decline..." I opened my mouth to shout "I decline!" but Neji covered my mouth, allowing Gaara to continue. "You may decline, but we need you to think about this. This could change your entire life. So answer, in, oh, I don't know, a week." He smiled.

That was it. Neji covering my mouth was annoying, but I needed to wait a _week_ just to tell Gaara the obvious answer, no? I couldn't stand it. I wasn't used to this impatience. I grabbed Neji's arm and hurled him at the wall. Everyone quickly moved out of the way, except Tenten, who caught him. The force of my throw pushed both of them against the wall and I knew if Tenten hadn't caught Neji, there would've been a hole in the wall.

Everyone became startled, Kiba and Shino looking disturbed, even.

"Sure! You guys are _so_ surprised! You always thought I'm just _weak, little, unconfident me_, didn't you!" Inside, I was surprised, but I continued. "You guys... never... thought I was like you... You never thought I was as strong as you." All of a sudden, I was on the verge of crying. Well, not really. More like I really wanted to cry. This new me didn't permit crying. Even if Naruto died, I wouldn't have been able to cry.

I ran up the stairs, into my room, and slammed the door. I looked for my MP3 player and played some of my anger music. It didn't help at all, so I turned it off and stared at it blankly. _Just another part of me gone. I can't even enjoy music._

I was still looking at my MP3 player, actually, when some one knocked on my door. I was about to shout "Go away!" but then Kurenai's voice said "Hinata? Can I come in?"

I got off my bed and opened the door. Kurenai was there, with Kiba and Shino. I let them in, and Kurenai hugged me. "I... I'm sorry." I murmured. "Temper tantrum."

"We're worried, you know. You have the sweetest temper in the world. You're not the type to have a temper tantrum, or even get angry at all."

"Well you know what!? Today's an exception!" I snapped at her.

Kurenai looked as if she just realized how much I had changed. "Ok then. We'll see you later, Hinata." She hugged me again, and left. Shino followed after her. But Kiba stayed behind.

"If you ever showed this side of you before, Hinata, I don't know if us guys would still like you. I know I don't. You're a true Hyuuga, Hinata. Your father would be proud." He said stiffly. Then he left.

I thought about it, and I realized what he said was true. The hard voice, the glare, the impatience. Those were qualities Neji, Hanabi, and my father shared. None of them enjoyed music either.

There's a test to see who was worthy of being a Hyuuga, kind of like the fireball jutsu test that the Uchihas had. To be worthy of the name Hyuuga, your Byakugan has to reach a range of atleast 250 meters. Originally, my Byakugan only reached 100 meters, the main reason my father had left me with Kurenai. Just yesterday, I was only at 148 meters.

This would be the ultimate test, if I was really was what I think I am. I switched my Byakugan on. _50 meters, 100 meters, 125 meters, 150 meters... _I kept going until I couldn't see any farther. I checked my distance...

I was at a staggering 430 meters. My father himself was only at 450 meters.

I was a true Hyuuga.

**A/N: Pretty long chapter for me, huh? **

**No, this isn't GaaHina, or KibaHina. This is purely NaruHina.**

**And the Hyuuga test is entirely made up (obviously). I did kind of get the idea from the Uchiha test, though. I'm not sure if Byakugans can reach that big of a range, but hey, why not? Seems like they can see pretty far, though I admit, this is a bit of an exaggeration.**

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4: I'm dying inside

**A/N: Hello people!**

**I might not be writing as much because of homework. evil homework! :(**

**Also, now that Hinata has this "true Hyuuga" thing going on, she now has 2 personalities. Kinda like Zetsu. So when she's talking to herself, the nice caring loving Hinata we know will be thinking (and speaking) with underlines beneath her words, and when she's talking/thinking to herself, all the words will be in Italics. You can figure it out. **

**Please, note that while they're arguing, they're thinking, and thinking is MUCH faster than talking. So even if they have a conversation that would take 5 minutes while talking, it probably wouldn't even take a minute while thinking.**

**Thank you to **CuteLikeMomiji **for making awesome suggestions and giving me the motivation to finish this story (or atleast, start writing this chapter).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... or any of the other characters.**

_**Orange and White**_

_**Chapter 4**_

I couldn't sleep that night. I also couldn't bear to go outside the house, not after what people would think of me. Heck, I couldn't even leave my room. So I stayed in my room for a week, basically just thinking things over. I almost went insane, talking to myself so much. Well...not really myself. It was more like there was two people living in my body. Like we were fighting for control over the body.

This is just one of the many disputes I had with myself:

_I'm not myself anymore. I can't go outside! People would try to comfort me, and then what would you do to them? Or worse, what if they're scared of me now?_

_Hey, it's not like we care. We're out for ourselves now, we don't need anyone!_

_I need Naruto._

_Oh, you don't need him either._ _He knew that you were engaged, and did you see him? He was practically bouncing with excitement._

_Maybe he thought that I would be happy, and then he would be happy for me. Being the oblivious person he is, Naruto might have thought that I would like Gaara._

_Exactly. Why do you need a person so stupid?_

_Take that back!_

_No._

_..._

All of our conversations end with one of us saying something and the other unable to think of a response.

But seriously, all I was doing for those 168 hours was going over different dilemmas and debating over them with myself. Different topics include Gaara, Kiba, what Kiba meant by "us guy**s**", whether Naruto was happy or not about my...engagement, what other people think of me, what _Neji_ thinks of me, whether we (we? Gosh, it's like there's two people inside my body.) were still ok with Kurenai, if my father would be proud of me... you get the point. And the worst part is that we didn't even get anywhere.

The only good thing that happened that week was that I managed to get just a little control over myself so I could be nice every once in a while.

Anyways, at the end of the week, I figured I'd cut myself off from the world (_you mean village_. _Oh, be quiet_) long enough, and went to join my family for breakfast.

When I got there, everybody was pleasantly surprised. Except Neji. He looked kind of worried, and I knew right then that if anyone tried to bring up the topic about Gaara, he'd change the subject immediately. As different as we were, both sides of me (..._I make myself sound like a freak_) were grateful for Neji. Nobody likes sulking for long.

"Hi Hinata! What have you been doing this entire time in your room, you've been in there for_ever_!" Hanabi almost exploded with pleasure at seeing me.

I wanted to frown and grin at the same time. I settled on sitting down and avoiding her gaze.

_Wow, how do you stand that kid? She's so...annoying. _

_Well, you know, there's this thing called patience, which you don't seem to have._

_..._

"Hey Hinata... how are you?" Neji said kindly, "Have some breakfast..." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Do you want ramen?"

Other Hinata (that's what I've decided to call her) stared at him, but internally I was giggling, thinking of Naruto.

Neji paled at Other Hinata's glare and nervously passed me some fried eggs.

_Let me say thanks._

_Why?_

_Incase you didn't know, it's common courtesy._

_I don't care about that kind of stuff._

_Father will get angry if we don't._

_..._

It's a good thing that Other Hinata is all about clan pride. Now that I think about it, that's kind of weird, because she came from a "not being able to rely on my clan" feeling.

"Thanks Neji. I'm doing fine. I just felt a little sick." I said a little too late.

Neji smiled, probably glad to know that there was still a little bit of me inside.

"So, Hinata, I trust that you've heard...?" My father looked at me with his piercing gaze.

"Yes I have...father."

"Oh my gosh, Hinata! Are you hap-" Hanabi was cut off when Neji covered her mouth with his hand. I kept my face emotionless (I guess that's what happens when you want to do opposite expressions at the same time), but inside, I smiled and Other Hinata scowled.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You do realize that they want your answer today...?" My father pointed out.

Silence.

We both thought **We're in so much trouble.**

_You answer._

_Fine_.

"I... I need more time to decide."

_Wait, what!? What do you mean more time!?!? I thought the obvious answer would be no!_

_Well... you see, when you think about it, there are 3 boys we like._

_What?!_

_I can tell. You like Sasuke. I like Naruto._

_Obviously._

_But... I... _dislike_ Sasuke and you _hate_ Naruto. _

_Yeah, get on with it!_

_Well, my _point_ is that if we married Gaara, we would both be ok with it. Gaara is very kind now, and I admire him for that. Gaara was a monster back then, and you admire him for that. Not to mention you would like the power that comes with marrying the Kazekage._

_..._

"Sure Hinata! We can arrange that!" Neji was very happy with the news that I (we) were actually considering this. No, he wasn't happy to know we could be going away. It's just that there were bonuses that came with this: I would have the best protection. I would make father happy. And apparently, I wouldn't be all murderous about it.

"Thanks Neji."

_Pff. Again with the thank-you's._

_Father._

_..._

(See, that week paid off. I could win the arguments... most of the time.)

Then we (this time, by "we", I mean my family and I) finished eating in silence, and cleared the table. I braced myself and prepared to go outside, but then Neji grabbed my arm. Again. How many of my walks has he interrupted this way?

"Hinata, I was wondering... how are your flowers doing?"

_Oh... _shoot_._

"Oh...Umm..." I paled. "Be right back!"

I rushed into my room and ended up almost hurling myself out the window when I tried to stop too quickly.

_Almost fell out of the window now, did we?_

_Fell out of the window... Wait, the window's OPEN?!?!_

_Yeah. What of it?_

_You don't know? I thought you would by looking through every single on of my memories for Sasuke, _

_Oh, shut up. But what's the big deal?_

_I always keep my window closed!_

I glanced towards my roses. They were all flourishing. Except my white rose. Why was that rose wilting? All the others were perfectly fine!

_Who knows? It doesn't matter. Just buy another one!_

_But...how do flowers survive a week without water?_

_...Maybe you sister opened your window while you were unconscious last week and you didn't close it. Then while we were sleeping, it rained and the flowers got their water._

_But why isn't the white ro-_

I hid my thoughts from her (another trick I learned during the week).

I just remembered... I had a plan. I was going to give those flowers to Naruto (obviously) for Valentine's Day. 2 red roses for love, 1 orange rose that was supposed to be Naruto... and 1 white rose that was supposed to be me.

_My_ rose had died while all the others were alive.

Did that mean that (metaphorically) I'd killed myself?

Did that mean I would never be myself again?

**A/N: Much Much shorter than last chapter.  
****This was just weak. I'm sorry. Actually, this is basically a filler that is only here for 2 reasons:  
****The Sasuke-Gaara-Naruto thing, and the Rose thing.  
****Sorry if you don't like it now... I'll try to make the next chapter much better.  
****Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5: The interrogation begins

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I know I said I would try to make this chapter better, but it's really difficult to write a story with the main character in this situation (You'll see in the first little bit).  
Also, for some reason it **_**just**_** occurred to me that Sasuke is back in the village. Wonder why I didn't notice that before. But pretend that he's just there because Naruto dragged him back and changed his ways like he did to so many others (not the dragging... the changing).**

**Also, I have a lot of brackets in this one, sorry about that.**

**Orange and White**

**Chapter 5**

After that, I basically lost my will to do anything. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't suicidal or anything, it's... it's more like the feeling when you wake up on a Monday morning and all you want to do is stay in bed...but then your mom or dad bursts into your room and yells at you to wake up. Except for me, there wasn't anything that made me get up. Actually, it was more the opposite.

There's this constant battle inside me for control that me and Other Hinata were fighting, even though we were kind of doing it unconsciously. It was something that we just did without thinking, like breathing. Anyways, because of that, as soon as I... stopped fighting, Other Hinata just completely overtook my body. Here's another analogy; if you pushing someone, and they're pushing back, if you just suddenly stop pushing, you're going to get thrown to the ground, whether the other person meant to or not. Which in this case, they didn't. It's funny actually... because we share thoughts, if the other consciousness suffers, so does the other. We have to share the pain, so Other Hinata was encouraging me to cheer up.

Of course I didn't. She didn't even know what was wrong, so how was she supposed to know how to make me feel better? But that made Other Hinata frustrated, so she got angry.

That's what the difference was between me and her, mainly. When something bad happened, I got sad. Other Hinata got angry. Of course, everyone else in the Hyuuga clan was like her. Another one of the things that made me different from my family.

_Oh, would you stop sulking already? It's driving me nuts!_

_..._

_Fine, you don't even have to stop sulking, just freakin' answer me!_

_..._

_You know what? Never mind. I'm just going to go out into town and make sure you lose all your friends. Infact, I'm going act just like Sasuke. _

She was obviously expecting me to say something about Sasuke, but it didn't work.

_Screw you, I'm really _am _going to ruin all your friendships, expecially with Naruto._

_..._

_Fine!_

_..._

And then she just walked downstairs and put on her shoes, but of course Neji had to interrupt again. He said that father wanted to train with me (us?). So right away Other Hinata turned around and followed Neji. Me, I just watched. That's all you can do when some one else takes over your body. You just watch, and think. It's kind of like a movie that you can talk with (too many analogies?).

So we trained and practised our kunai and shuriken throwing, and tried to get better at the Gentle Fist. I expected it to be hard, since I'd basically perfected it, but Other Hinata was a million times better at this stuff than I was. She even managed to learn _8 trigrams: 64 palms_ in the 2 hours we trained with Neji. It's like she was born to be a kunoichi (a female ninja, incase you didn't know).

After we were done, Other Hinata had to meet up with the rest of Team 8 at the training grounds, so she tried to get out of the house for the second time today, desperately hoping that Neji wouldn't bother us. Luckily (Unluckily for me), he didn't. Other Hinata ran to the training grounds and stopped abruptly. Kurenai and all of my old academy classmates were there looking at us. Instead of blushing like I usually would, Other Hinata simply paled. To my surprise, some of the boys in the clearing looked angry and sad at the same time. Kiba and Naruto looked like they'd been crying.

Other Hinata couldn't understand why, but I was thinking very hard on the past few days; _I don't know if us guys would still like you._ That's what Kiba said. _Us guys_... that suddenly made sense (I blocked my thoughts right about here). Kiba, Naruto, Shino... even Shikamaru looked a little depressed... did that mean they liked me (or in Shikamaru's case, used to like me)? It wasn't very obvious... except when I was with Kiba, or Shino. Shino always stood up for me, saying that I was stronger than what everyone else thought. Kiba... the annoyance in his voice whenever I fainted because of Naruto... I felt like I had let them down. I felt kind of strange after that thought, but I was also more upset by it, so it wasn't like I suddenly decided to take control of my body.

Other Hinata was still standing in the same spot when I figured it all out when Kurenai stood up and hugged me again. When Kurenai let go, she looked at me like she was trying to figure out something, but steered me into the middle of the circle that my former classmates formed. Then she left in a way that suggested that she was frightened to see something...

...which turned out to be Ino, Sakura, Kiba, and Choji tying me up and seating me on a tree stump. Then Shikamaru walked forward lazily (and somewhat reluctantly), Sakura right behind him.

"Sorry Hinata," Shikamaru shot me a look that also looked like he was speculating something, "It is a bit harsh, but we need some answers from you. Now."

"Yes... or I'll whack you." Sakura put on her gloves and smashed a nearby tree for emphasis.

Kiba, Shino, and Naruto looked away while Sasuke eagerly watched as the interrogation began.

"First things first Hinata..." Shikamaru began, "You know that if you refuse to marry Gaara, your father is just going to make you, right?". Other Hinata nodded.

"Are you happy about that?"

Other Hinata didn't respond, and Sakura lightly slapped her. "It'll hurt a lot more next time."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her, but repeated the question, "Are you happy about the thing with Gaara?"

Other Hinata refused to say anything (I guess she's the strong and silent type), and when Sakura raised her hand again, she quickly cut the rope with chakra, made a swinging motion with her hand that reminded me of Kankuro, and appeared to be playing an swinging, invisible piano while Sakura suddenly tried to beat up Sasuke.

_Holy shoot, you're a puppet master!_

_Holy shoot, you just thought-spoke to me._

Shikamaru instantly went into genius-mode and watched while Naruto tried to get Sakura off Sasuke and Shino sent insect-parasites to eat Other Hinata's chakra strings. He then proceded to cover Other Hinata with his insects, forming a cocoon with just her head sticking out.

Ino then did her _Mind Transfer Jutsu_ on Other Hinata, and took over our body.

"Ok, Shino. You can let us down now." Ino said in Other Hinata's (and my) voice. The cocoon slowly disintegrated and Choji tied Other Hinata/Ino up. "Sorry Ino, this is just incase you lose her. Hinata _can_ be quite strong somethings." Choji said, shooting a glance at Naruto, who didn't notice.

By now, Ino still hadn't noticed my consciousness yet. Well, I might as well get her attention.

_H-hello Ino. How are y-you d-d-doing?_


	6. Chapter 6: Me and Sakura become buddies

**A/N: Haha, I'm so lazy with my writing... **

**yes the Rookie Nine were a bit harsh in the last chapter, but I felt it was necessary... kind of like when you have to beat the crap out of your best friend if they're acting weird. And they're ninja. Of course they're going to take it a bit farther than just punching you on the arm.**

**Also, I know many parts in my story make no sense at all, so feel free to pm me about them (you'll have to mention which parts) and I'll explain.**

**Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Naruto. Like any of you guys needed to read that to confirm it.**

**Orange and White**

**Chapter 6**

Even though I was a bit annoyed by the stuttering, it was the only thing that made Ino realize that the real _me_ was in here, and not just Other Hinata talking back. I'm not sure that was good, because her reaction was scary.

Ino responded by shrieking "You're just like Sakura!", then started rocking back and forth. I think this was really freaking her out, because she didn't even notice when she shifted out of my body back to her own. When she got back into her own body, she unconsciously curled up into a ball on the ground. Then Other Hinata regained control, and prepared to cut the ropes and attack _again_.

But then Shikamaru got the "I just figured something out" look on his face, and told Choji to untie Other Hinata. Everyone looked at Shikamaru like he was crazy, but they didn't do anything, because obviously, Shikamaru is far from crazy, he's a genius.

Other Hinata stood up slowly, obviously not trusting Shikamaru. She glared at Ino, who was still curled up like an insane person.

Something about that really hurt me deep inside. If I hadn't said anything, then maybe she wouldn't be acting so disturbed. Sure, she teased me a lot, but she was still my friend. And seeing the boys like that... Well, it _did_ make me more sad inside, but I realized now that the strange feeling was the need to protect them. No wonder it felt so strange. My entire life, I had always been the one to be _protected_. To be the protector, well, that was new for me.

Seeing Ino like that just made the new feeling stronger, and now that I was sure nothing was going to happen to me, I might as well just stop sulking and do something.

_Hey, umm... Do you mind leaving for a bit, just so I can talk to Ino?_

I could see Other Hinata mentally staring at me incredulously.

_Uhh... Sure. No problemo. I'll, uh, just go and get some, uh, crackers._ That just proves how amazed Other Hinata was. Who says "No problem_o"_? And where is she going to get crackers?

When I took control, I could feel every part of my body relax, as if it was happy that the person it was used to was back. Even my gaze softened. I figured it was because Other Hinata was always so tense.

I started to walk towards Ino. Choji was about to ram into me and take me away from her but Shikamaru held out his arm to stop him.

"Ino...? Sorry to scare you earlier. I... I didn't mean to..." I trailed off. Ino glanced up at me with unseeing eyes, while everyone else (except Shikamaru) looked pleasantly surprised by the familiar voice they know and love. Then Ino's eyes focused, and she let out a shaky breath.

"Hinata?" She asked.

I really wanted to say "The one and only." (I felt much more confident than I ever have before) but that would've been too out of character and then they wouldn't absolutely know it's me. "It's me."

Shikamaru turned to the others and said "I guess you guys all figured out what's going on? _Especially_ you, Sakura?". Sakura nodded, but then Naruto waved his arms around and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! You haven't even explained anything, how are we supposed to know what's happened?".

This was followed by mutters of "Idiot." and Kiba and Shikamaru sighed in exasperation while I smiled fondly.

"It's too troublesome to explain it all to Naruto. Some one else do it." Shikamaru turned around and started walking back into the village, waving lazily at us. "I'm going to go play shogi with As-" Shikamaru froze in place, his arm in the air as if it was waiting for a high-five (which it wasn't obviously, it was just there because he was waving). "I mean... I'm going to take a nap."

Ino and Choji teared up for a second, and Sakura went to comfort them while Shino explained the situation to Naruto. Everyone else passed by me (most of them hugged me or patted me on the back) and left. Then I just stood there. I didn't know what to do, really. Should I stay here? Should I go home? Maybe I should sit down somewhere? Where should I sit?

Then, to save me from my confusion, Sakura came along and linked my arm in her's.

"Me and Hinata are going for a walk guys! Be back in like, 10 hours!" She saw my face and laughed. "Just kidding. 5 hours at most. Now, let's go!"

I just kind of stared at her, but then she tugged me and started walking while I tripped over my own feet to catch up with her. Sakura looked at my progress and chuckled, and I laughed with her. It seemed so long since I felt so good.

We walked into the forest and just kind of wandered into we found a little clearing that looked very peaceful.

"Umm, Hinata? You might want to stand back..." I hesitated, but then I realized she was going to smash something, so I stood a few metres behind her.

And being the predictable person she is, Sakura punched a large tree and it fell down. Then in the course of about 5 minutes, she broke off pieces of the tree stump and kind of polished/rubbed it with her hands (she had her gloves on, of course) until it was something that we could sit on without getting a splinter.

"Sit down Hinata. We have a lot to talk about." She sat down on the stump and patted the spot next to her. I sat down robotically.

"Hinata, I'm just going to ask questions, and all you have to do is nod or shake your head." She said it in the way someone might try to calm an out-of-control little kid. "Of course, you don't have to, you can just say it. Is that ok?"

"S-sure Sakura. Go a-ahead."

"Do you feel like you have more than 1 personality?"

"M-maybe...?"

"Does it seem like you have conversations with yourself in your head?"

"K-k-kinda..."

"Do you sometimes have a lapse in memory?"

"No... not really..."

"Do you occasionally do things that you think that you usually wouldn't have done?"

"Sometimes... But, uh, Sakura, how m-many questions a-are you going to ask me?"

"There's about 50 more questions, but I guess we already have all the answers we need..." Sakura smiled.

"...?"

"Those questions are the main questions that basically identify what's wrong." She explained. "No, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you... it's more like... umm... It identifies the situation."

"Oh... Ok."

"Anyways, I can tell already that what Ino said _is_ true. You're not _exactly_ like me but close enough. We've both unleashed our alter-egos."

"What... What does that mean?"

"Well, it's what some people would call 'multi personality disorder' but not really. It just means that there's a part in you that's the exact opposite of you. An alter-ego. That little voice in your head. Your evil twin. Whatever you want to call it."

"Mmhmm..."

"It comes out occasionally or in little bits at a time. Which is fine, because that's almost unnoticeable... But when I say 'unleash' it means that our alter-ego comes out more than it should. You, for example, apparently just gave yourself over to it because of an emotional incident. I also figure that it was going to take over soon anyways, seeing as it almost never comes out."

"But what about you, Sakura?"

Me...? Well, I was born with it 'unleashed'." Sakura made little quotations marks in the air with her fingers. "But when Sasuke left, well, I controlled it. Almost."

I looked at Sakura, expecting her to continue or say something else, but instead she looked at _me_ expectantly.

"What? You want me to say more? Sorry, but that's basically all you need to know... You don't need to be an expert on this stuff to control your alter-ego. You just need to be strong and don't give up." Sakura grinned confidently at me.

"Narutfo's rubbed off on you." I commented.

"It comes with being on his team." She replied. "But since you're probably bursting with confusion, it's question time! Ask any question you want!"

"O-ok. How come nobody notices their _own_ alter-ego?"

"You're not aware of it until it's 'unleashed'. The way it shows itself is so unnoticeable, people think it's just how they react when they feel a certain emotion, or they think it's a mood swing."

"What exactly is your alter-ego like Sakura?"

"You know whenever Naruto says something stupid and I pound him?" I smiled knowingly and nodded. "That's it. Whenever I get angry and freak out, or do something irresponsible, that's my alternate personality."

I nodded again and we had another awkward moment where we looked at eachother and nobody said anything.

"No more questions?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I'll ask more later if I have any."

"Ok then. I'm going to put a seal on you now, but it's going to take about an hour."

"What does this seal do specifically, besides sealing?"

"It... how can I put this? It sort of merges your two personalities together so it's like it's never been 'unleashed' in the first place and you don't notice it's there. Are you fine with this?"

"S-sure. Let's do it."

* * *

Sakura did spend the next hour merging my personalities together, but it felt like it took forever to do it. No, that's an exaggeration. It actually felt like 5 hours, which I guess is why Sakura said it's going to take "5 hours." Speaking of which, I had a new question to ask Sakura.

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you have this seal put on you too?"

Sakura smiled again. We smiled a lot today. "Apparently, I wasn't showing my alternate personality _enough_ after Sasuke left. But yeah. You're smart, Hinata."

"Thanks. I think maybe we should go back now. I'm kinda hungry."

She raised an eyebrow at me and exclaimed, "I didn't know the seal was this effective! You've completely lost your stutter Hinata! I mean, I know I had the seal on me too, but I didn't notice any difference in me!"

"Mmhmm."

"Let's go home now!"

"I'm going to stay here actually. It's really peaceful here. It'll be my special place." I beamed.

"That's great. You _need_ a special place, Hinata, after the previous month."

"No kidding."

Sakura gave me a strange look, then shook her head. "I'll have to get used to that. You seem so different." Then she saw my worried expression. "No, you're not _that_ different! You're still very kind and friendly, I'm sure."

"Thanks Sakura. I think we'll be really close friends from now on."

"Buddies." She agreed.

"Well, I guess you should be going now. See you!"

"Bye! I'll make sure I'll tell Naruto about your new confidence! He'll be ecstatic! All I have to do is find him..."

"No need! Your Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja is here!"

Me and Sakura watched in shock as Naruto leaped into the clearing from the trees behind us.

* * *

**A/N: I'm guessing some of you are wondering about the timeline. Well, it's obviously after Asuma died, so it's Shippuden. The fact that Sasuke is in the village means that this is before he killed Itachi (actually, in my story he won't ever kill Itachi because he's in the village!). I think we'll leave it at that. I can't really make it more specific, considering that now the story isn't really following the original storyline...  
****I assure you this is not the end! Though it is coming to a close very soon...  
****Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7: My New Life Begins

**A/N: Greetings, Fanfictioners! It's been a loooooong time! Sorry for taking so long with this last chapter, as I had no idea how to end it! Well, enjoy this, and review please! I also plan on doing an epilogue for this, but in a long time from now.**

**Spoiler: if you've never seen Pein/Pain in action.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Iljimae.**

**Orange and White**

**Chapter 7**

Sakura and I stared at Naruto for a bit longer, and then Sakura started freaking out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... whoa! Naruto, you idiot, how long have you been there?"

He grinned in that clueless way I love, and replied, "Just got here."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Then how could your dramatic entrance be o well timed?" She muttered in confusion. The she remembered her anger. "What are you doing here anyways?!?!" She delivered one of her jaw-droppingly strong punches, this time in the form of an uppercut aimed at his chin.

It sent Naruto flying straight up in the air.

"Sakura..." I protested as she prepared to kick Naruto when he came back down.

She turned her head and saw my unhappy expression. "Oh. Sorry Hinata."

"It's alri-" I started, but then I noticed Naruto hit the ground behind Sakura. I figured he probably wasn't in the best physical condition right now.

"Oh crap!"

I ran forward and knelt beside a now-unconscious Naruto. I pressed my hands against his chest and started healing him.

"I'll leave you two alone then..." Sakura murmured as she fled the scene.

* * *

It took a while and it exhausted me, but I finally managed to recover Naruto to full health. As I relaxed by his side, I realized something strange. Naruto smelled like flowers (The heck?). I hadn't noticed in my panic earlier, but now it seemed obvious. I pondered over why he would smell like flowers, because - to be honest - Naruto usually stank of ramen, or dirty socks - something bad, anyways.

I still hadn't found a rational answer to that, when Naruto came around.

"What... what happened?" Naruto blinked groggily, then suddenly jumped up. "Sakura! I'm gonna kill you!" He turned and looked at me. "Oh... Hi Hinata."

"Hey Naruto." I smiled a little, and I wasn't too sure why.

"Watcha smiling at?" He asked, and he grinned back. Then his face lit up as he remembered something. "Oh yeah! Hinata, I have to give yyou something.

"...Really?" I blushed slightly.

Naruto reached into his orange-and-black jacket and pulled out a perfectly healthy white rose. I instantly recognized it - it was _my_ rose.

I reached out and accepted the flower from him. I guess that explained his scent. "How... Where did...?" I said in awe and wonder.

A guilty and embarassed came across Naruto's face. "I kinda snuck in during the middle of the night and replaced it with a withered flower." His face grew red.

"Oh. Why?"

"Well, I originally came to ask you something -" Naruto's face turned scarlet "- but I decided that I didn't want to ask you then. I saw the rose and I took it... it reminded me of you."

"Really? I always liked to think of myself as a lavender blossom."

"You're more of an plum blossom. '_They're like Cherry Blossoms, but not as loud. They're like Pear Blossoms, but not as temperamental._'" He quoted. Then a far-away look came into his eyes. "But that rose is more like you than anything else. So innocent looking, so delicate... And yet powerful in ways one cannot imagine." Naruto sighed in content.

"I didn't know you were a poet."

He chuckled. "Neither did I."

"You seem a lot more mature right now than you usually are." I noted.

"I guess so. Jiraiya's death matured me a lot. It also kinda looks like he passed some of his wisdom and cleverness down on me, because I feel a heck of a lot smarter too. And then when I fought Pein, after you got knocked out, I got to talk to my dad. I guess I should thank you for that."

"But you still act like your old self too." I said, remembering what happened a few hours ago.

"I like to make people laugh." He beamed. "It's also funny to hear people groan in exasperation sometimes."

"Yeah." I laughed. A moment of silence passed between us, and then something occurred to me. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Huh?"

"What did you want to ask me that night when you snuck in my room?"

"...What would you do if I didn't tell you?"

"I won't ever cook for you again!" I teased.

His eyes widened. "No no no no no no no no! I'll tell you! Uhh... I was going to ask you to run away with me."

I blinked a few times before my mind processed that. "What? Why? I thought you liked Sakura?"

The orange loving boy rolled his eyes. "Of course not! She's so scary!" We laughed. Then he grew serious. "After being rejected by Sasuke so often, Sakura needed something to cheer her up. And what can I say, I still care for her. She's my teammate. I know I make her happier, even if she doesn't. I imagine she thinks of me as a back-up plan, and everyone feels better with a back-up plan. But since I don't really like her, I have to make sure she doesn't ever say yes. So I act obnoxious, which is fun."

I smiled, then nodded. It all fit together. What a perfect plan, and it fooled everybody. How observant he would have to be to figure that all out. But we were getting off topic.

"By the way, Naruto. I say yes."

"Yes to what?" he asked, looking puzzled.

I quickly pecked him on the cheek. "Eloping, silly."

"Oh. Really?"

"Of course." Well, to be honest, I seriously doubted my life was going to come together like that. But I figured if there was a way to be happy just for a bit, I would take it. And who knows? Maybe fate was finally making up for all the suffering I'd been through.

"But before we leave, I need to do something."

* * *

I burst through the door to Ino's shop just before it closed.

"Ino!"

"Hey Hinata. What brings you here?"

"I need 6 roses, 3 red, 3 white, 3 pieces of paper, and a pen!" I slammed some coins down on the counter.

"Okay sure. Calm down Hinata, you look so rushed."

"I ran here." I stated simply.

"'Kay then. Here you go!" She handed me a bag filled with what I'd asked for.

"Bye Ino. I'll miss you." I quickly hugged her, then ran out towards my home. I could hear Ino shouting "Wait! Hinata!" But I kept running, with tears in my eyes.

When I got to my room, Naruto was waiting for me.

"Nice room." He commented.

"Thanks." I replied as I took the pen and paper out of the bag. I wrote the same message on each piece of paper:

_Sorry._

_~Hinata_

I took the roses and twisted the red ones with the white ones until I ended up with 3 pairs of red and white roses. Naruto attached to paper to the mini bouquets while I got a sheet of paper. I wrote the same thing on this paper, in my best handwriting.

"Wavy ling thing, Hi-na-ta..." I murmured as I wrote.

Naruto and I walked over to my flower box. I noticed a tiny sapling between the red and white rose - the orange rose.

It was Naruto's idea. I focused my chakra into the plant to accelerate it's growth. It still didn't grow very fast.

"Can I help?" Naruto asked rhetorically, and he put his hands on mine. I felt his chakra flower through, and I used it on the growing flower. The change was immediate. It seemed like it was developing 5 times faster. His chakra was pleasant and comforting like a sunny day, but there was an underlying disturbing darkness, which I instantly knew was the Nine -Tailed -Fox.

In the middle of the process, I realized there was too much of Naruto's chakra. I stored the extra and I knew just what to do with it, but that would some later.

Then, 10 minutes after we started, the rose was fully grown. I could hardly bear to cut it, but I snipped it's stem and twisted it with my rose.

"Ready?" Naruto whispered with anticipation.

"Always." I replied, smiling at him. "Just a few more things." I slung my backpack over my shoulder, took the mini bouquets, the giant paper, and 2 thumbtacks.

We walked into the hallway and silently closed the door. I attached the big paper to the door with one thumbtack and stuck the orange - white bouquet about it with the other. Then I rested my hand on it, and used Naruto's left over chakra and my own to seal it all onto my door. Anyone besides me and Naruto who tried to take it off my door would get quite a_ shock _- a very _electrifying_ shock.

I grinned, imagining Neji attempting to pry the package off. Pay back for interrupting my walks before they even began.

"Let's go." I said, and we took off.

* * *

We arrived at Kiba's house first. I used my Byakugan to determine where his room was, then climbed up to where his window was. Naruto pried it open for me, and I slid a bouquet in his room. We did the same thing with Shino's house and then with Gaara's hotel room, except I had to find his hotel first.

After finishing all our exhausting preparationgs, we could finally leave. As we walked away from the village, we discussed our future.

"Are we ever going to come back?" I asked.

"Yeah, when Kakashi's Hokage."

I looked at him with shock.

"You know it's going to happen sooner or later. Kakashi's not as old as he looks, and he has the Sharingan, without the Uchiha's pride and arrogance."

"Yeah, I guess so. I wonder when his hair turned grey."

"Me too." Naruto laughed, but it was a little shaky.

I turned towards him and kissed him. I felt like I was going to melt in his arms. "It's going to be alright."

"I know." He said with more certainty.

And we went, smiling at eachother, wondering where fate would take us.


	8. Chapter 8: Epilogue

**A/N: Hey! I'm sure you weren't expecting an epilogue, but here it is (about a month after the last chapter was finished)! And of course, thank you to CuteLikeMomiji for giving me support and wonderful ideas!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or it's characters. I only own the plot of my story.**

**Orange and White**

**Epilogue**

Kakashi was thinking. Kakashi was thinking very hard. He never imagined this day would come, but when it did, it came with an odd feeling of destiny. Kakashi wasn't even surprised when the elders had asked. And ask they did. So what to do? True, he was a bit laid back for the job, but he was definitely skilled enough, and determined enough. He'd be a good role model for the village.

Kakashi pondered this, and thought of Team 7: Sasuke, who had gone off to Orochimaru. Naruto, who had run away with Hinata somewhere. Sakura, who was crushed by their disappearances. And himself. Kakashi. Kakashi what? What had happened to him while the others were affected? Nothing. Sure, he'd been physically hurt more than a few times because of these guys, and Naruto's obsession with returning Sasuke to the village hadn't helped at all, but emotionally, mentally, he hadn't been altered that much. He guessed that it was because the loss of his original team members had changed him already.

Obito. Rin. The Fourth Hokage... Obito. Obito, Obito, Obito. He had taught him so many things, important things. And what better way to honour him than to try to teach the entire village what Obito taught him?

"Well, Kakashi? Hurry up."

"I'm prepared for the job. I guess I'm 6th Hokage now."

* * *

Kakashi stood on the rooftop, looking over a sea of people. His people now. The thought made him think twice about being Hokage. He was responsible for the safety and welfare of all these people. _If only Naruto could see me now._ He thought.

As it happened, Naruto was coming. Being the #1 hyperactive knuckle-headed ninja that he was, he was determined to return to the village dramatically. Epicly. Or, as most other people would see it, obnoxiously. Anyways, Naruto was returning to the village, with Hinata... dramatically.

It started with a huge swarm of shadow clones of Naruto. They leapt over the rooftops of the village, ran through the streets, all managing to come at Kakashi at the same time. They lifted him up over their heads and passed him down the crowd, while everybody was too shocked to react. Naruto? Back?

Let's take a look at all of the Rookies' (including Neji's team's) thoughts...

**Sakura:** Naruto! When...?!?! Is Hinata with you? Is Sasuke...?

**Rock Lee:** Yes! Let Kakashi feel the power of youth through crowd surfing! Well done, Naruto!

**Ten Ten:** Naruto's back! Of course he would put himself in the center of attention though... *sweatdrop*

**Neji: **Naruto's back. Hmm. He better have Hinata with him, or else... (o.0 scary)

**Kiba: **Hey, look who's back! If he doesn't have Hinata with him, I swear I'm going to kick his butt! Just like old times! (Akamaru barks in his head: "Arf!")

**Shino: **Naruto. Do you recognize me?

**Ino:** It's... It's Naruto! Oh, if Hinata's with him then I can finally find out what Hinata meant way back! And maybe get some nice juicy gossip!

**Choji:** _Naruto!!!_ This is just _great!_ We can go hang out and have some BBQ pork to celebrate!

**Shikamaru:** Naruto...! I'm willing to bet he has Hinata with him. And Sasuke, probably, or else he wouldn't be back at all.

Of course, Shikamaru was right. Once Kakashi had been passed along to the villagers and out of the hands of the shadow clones, they all huddled then jumped amazingly high into the air at the same time. While still in the air, an explosive tag flew into the middle of the group and made all the clones poof into nothing. It all looked like a smoky fireworks display with only one huge explosion.

When everybody looked in the direction the explosive tag came from, they saw Naruto and (guess who?) Hinata. Hinata looked much stronger now, and she wasn't blushing nearly as much as she would have been while being in front of the entire village. But there was something new about her expression. What was it? She looked... satisfied. And thinking of her past, that was something.

After examining the Hyuuga Heiress, the Konoha people noticed something (or someone) slung over Naruto's shoulder. Was it a person? Yes, it was a person, an unconscious person. An unconscious person with a distinctive chicken-butt hairstyle.

_Sasuke._


End file.
